As dawn rose across Night City, So Mi found herself staring out at the ocean. She had hoped that she would never have to set foot here again, but now, she had no choice. Her and V's only hope of salvation lay in long-abandoned appendix of Night City: Pacifica. The Voodoo Boys around every corner was bad enough, but she was much, much too close to Dogtown for comfort. She didn't want to stay here any longer than necessary.

She let out an annoyed huff after looking over her shoulder once more. "V, this guy better come through for us. We're taking enough of a risk being here as it is."

V's construct appeared next to her, leaning against the railing and following So Mi's gaze out toward the ocean. "Relax, I trust him. If there's anyone I know that can get us what you need, it'll be him." She cracked a sarcastic smirk. "Plus, I'm about 90 percent sure that this one won't try to kill you."

So Mi rolled her eyes. She was about to reply when she heard the sound of footsteps approaching behind her. She felt her heart skip a beat. Whoever was coming up behind her, she could tell they had a large frame. Her hand brushed up against her cyberdeck, ready to execute a quickhack at a moment's notice. Just as she was about to turn and see who was approaching her, however, a gruff voice hit her eardrums.

"Don't look. Eyes forward," he instructed her, as he leaned against the railing a few feet away from her.

V peered at him through the corner of So Mi's eyes. "This is our guy: River Ward. Looks a helluva lot different than what I remember, though. Gotta say, I don't think he's pulling off that goatee."

"So, I hear you need help?" River asked. "The kind that warrants my services."

So Mi raised a skeptical eyebrow, still keeping her gaze well away from him. "And that's what you do, is it? Offer your help to the needy?"

"Somethin' like that," River replied. "Lotta people in NC that need help- the kind you'd only be able to get from badges if they weren't so far up their own asses. That's why I've spent the last two years building up this network of mine."

V scoffed. "Shit, he keeps this up and he'll be turning fixer within a year. Gotta say, I'm kinda proud of 'im." She looked into So Mi's eyes and frowned. "But you don't seem too thrilled."

"Forgive me for doubting you, but I find it hard to believe that there's anyone in Night City with intentions that pure," she said to River.

River shrugged, shifting so he was leaning against the railing with his back and his arms crossed against his chest. "If you're having doubts, then maybe you shouldn't've come, and yet you're here- means you're either not as skeptical as you say you are, or you're really desperate, so what is it you want from me?"

So Mi paused, taking in a deep, steady breath. "I need you to get me schematics- blueprints of Pacifica's underground. It's urgent."

If she and V were going to have any chance at getting away from Arasaka after grabbing the Relic, they wouldn't be able to waste any time fumbling around Pacifica looking for Cynosure. She was too detail-oriented to leave something as crucial as that unaccounted for. In other words, she wasn't going to be satisfied until she saw the place with her own two eyes.

River hesitated for a good, long while. "That's a pretty big ask," he finally said. "And City Hall doesn't just give stuff like that to just anyone. Mayor Peralez has spent the last two years falling further and further into a fit of paranoia. My sources say he thinks there's some grand conspiracy against him. The place is locked down tight. Getting intel like that'll take quite a bit of effort on my end." He finally turned to face her. "What's it for?"

"It's… a long story- long and complicated."

"I got time."

So Mi frowned. She was hoping to keep the number of people who knew about everything to a minimum, but it seemed that number was growing more and more every day. "There's… a bunker underneath Pacifica- should run across the border with Dogtown. By now, it's over half a century old, but I need to get in there, stat. There's tech down there that I need to save my life, and I'm running out of time to get it."

River stared long and hard into So Mi's eyes. If there was one thing he had always been good at, it was judging the character of others, and to him, at least. So Mi checked out. He let out a sigh and pushed himself up from against the railing. "Fine. Give me some time, I'll be in touch," he instructed her as he began to walk away. "I'd recommend staying in the area until I get what you need."

So Mi frowned. "Great, more time in Pacifica- just what we needed," she muttered to V. "This guy had better be as good as you say."

V smiled, wrapping her digital arms around So Mi's waist from behind. "Y'know something, So Mi? You worry too much." She rested her chin against her host's shoulder. "I wish this was real. You deserve to have some genuine physical comfort."

"Well, I guess you'll just have to make it up to me somehow."

"Soon as I figure out how, I'll be all over it just for you. Now c'mon, I wanna show you something," the construct said as she began heading further down into Pacifica.

So Mi cocked a brow curiously as she hesitantly followed. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see, don't worry," V replied, looking back with a slight smirk before it faded away, revealing a more… somber expression. "It's important to me."

So Mi followed behind quietly, pondering in her mind just where exactly V was taking her. For a brief moment, the thought of Dogtown came into her mind, and it made her hairs stand on end. Thankfully, though, those fears were quickly put to rest as she saw them pass by the entrance to Dogtown in the distance. Instead, they arrived at a run-down old hotel. And yet, despite its dilapidated state, there still seemed to be people living there.

V's gaze rested on the people lingering around the building as she led So Mi around the back. "The Pistis Sophia…" she murmured. "Last time I was here, this place was abandoned," she remarked. "To be honest, I can't really tell whether that changing is good or bad."

So Mi followed her up the stairs, climbing up one floor after another. Once they reached the third floor, however, she felt a tingling in her head- a telltale sign of what was about to happen. She tried to lean on the railing to brace herself, but it came too fast. Pain like none she had ever felt before shot through her entire body like lightning mixed with fire. She fell to the floor, writhing in pain and doing her best not to cry out for all of Pacifica to hear.

V was at her side in an instant. "Hang on So Mi!" she insisted. "Deep breaths. You've got this, I promise," her voice was gentle but firm as close to a physical shoulder to lean on as she could give in her digital form.

So Mi followed her instructions. Slowly but surely, the pain began to fade, and she let out a sigh of relief. "It's… getting worse," she grunted as she slowly got back on her feet. "V, I think we're running out of time."

"It's okay. Just try not to think about it right now. We can worry about it later," V replied softly. Her construct disappeared and quickly reappeared next to an open window leading into an abandoned hotel room. "Climb through here."

Peeking inside, So Mi frowned. "This is just an ordinary hotel room," she said as she climbed in through the window. "Why did you make me come here, again?"

V was silent for a moment, materializing on the bed, looking up at a motionless ceiling fan. "Back when I was still… y'know, alive. I wound up having a really bad attack from the Relic- so bad it knocked me out cold." Her digital fists clenched up instinctively. "For a minute, I was scared- terrified, even- that I was dead, but I wasn't. When I came to the next morning, I was here. Turns out Johnny took control of my body while I was out- brought me here," she explained.

So Mi felt a sharp pang of sadness coming from V. She sat on the bed next to V's construct. "Did he say why?" she asked gently.

V sat up on the bed, nodding to an opened vent where the counter across the room met the floor. "After he deserted from the army, Johnny came here, wasting away for months before he decided to pull himself together. He left his dogtags in that hole there, and gave 'em to me some fifty years later." She stood up, pacing around the room for a moment before sitting down next to the hole. "And it was right here that he asked me a question that… well, I didn't give it much thought at the time, but ultimately it led to me doing what I did- in Mikoshi, I mean."

"What was it?" So Mi asked hesitantly.

V leaned her head back against the counter, staring up at the ceiling. There was a kind of sober remembrance in her eyes as her expression darkened. "He asked me if we were deployed together, fighting in a war side by side, if I would take a bullet for him. I tried brushing it off as just a stupid question- the kind he makes… made, a lot. But he kept pressing me for an answer, so… I thought long and hard about it- about everything the two of us had been through together, and… I said I would." Her head hung low with her shoulders. "He tried telling me it was gonna be him," she murmured weakly, her voice beginning to falter under the weight of her emotions. "He said when the time came, he would be the one getting wiped, but when I found out I'd only have six months to live, I knew what I had to do. So I did just that- took the bullet."

So Mi sat next to her, looking the construct in the eye. "Do you… regret it?"

V opened her mouth, but no words came out. Eventually, all she could manage was a meek, "I… I don't know. But I do know one thing: from here on out, there's not gonna be anymore bullets. We're gonna get through this together, and once it's all over, we won't have to worry about anything anymore. We'll be free."

"I hope you're right, V," So Mi said as the two of them leaned on each other- as much as they could in spite of V's lack of a physical form, at least.

She lost track of long they sat there, wrapped in each other's' arms- an hour, at least, probably longer. Time felt is if it didn't exist for them- like the world had stopped spinning, and they were the only two in it. This, she decided, was how she wanted every day with V to be. Once everything was said and done, this was all she ever wanted. Two years ago, she would've laughed at the idea of wanting nothing more than this- after all, it was her ambition that had been her constant guide through life. Although she had come to realize, looking back with hindsight, that it always seemed to lead her further and further into trouble. She just wished silently that she could've realized it sooner.

Suddenly, her train of thought was broken by a call from River. She answered without hesitation. "I've got your data. It's burned onto a datashard," he reported.

So Mi rose to her feet. "Where are we meeting? Same place as before?"

"No, head to the chapel on Sloan- I'll be waiting outside." The call abruptly ended.

V's brow furrowed. "Stay on your toes, So Mi. Last I saw of it, that place was crawling with Voodoo Boys."

She let out an annoyed sigh. "Great. Because things just can't ever be easy for us, can they?" she asked as she moved to climb back out the window before taking one last look around the room. She thought long and hard on what V said- about Johnny, about them, all of it. All she could do was pray that the construct was right before climbing back out into Pacifica.

Thankfully, the walk to the chapel proved to be quick and uneventful. As they neared the entrance, however, So Mi kept her cyberdeck close at hand. As she waited for River to make himself known, she couldn't help but look at the people around her- partly out caution and partly out of curiosity.

V materialized in front of her, pacing back and forth as she looked around at everyone. "Something's… off," she murmured as her eyes narrowed.

"Whaddyou mean?"

"VDBs are everywhere, but they seem different- preoccupied, even. If I didn't know any better, I'd say something's got 'em spooked."

A realization struck So Mi suddenly. "The Blackwall." Even just saying it made her skin crawl and her heart race. After everything she'd been through- what Myers and the FIA put her through- she swore that she would never go near it again, and yet, she just kept getting pulled back to it.

"When Alt pulled me back across the Wall, Alt said that what we did made it unstable. NetWatch sent a small army of netrunners to stabilize it, and I guess where NetWatch goes, the VDBs follow," V explained, crossing her arms across her chest as she continued pacing back and forth. "We just gotta get the Relic and pull me across the Wall. Then we'll never have to worry about it again," she promised.

Suddenly, River emerged from the crowd, making his way toward So Mi with the datashard in his hand. "Here," he said, handing it to her. "Complete schematics of Pacifica's underground, as promised."

So Mi grabbed the shard and slotted it in just long enough to verify that it was what she was looking for before taking it back out. She gave him a grateful nod as she stowed it away. "You never mentioned your fee."

"Cause there isn't one," he said before cracking a smirk. "Like I said, I don't do this for the money. I do it to help people, and you struck me as the kind of person who needed help."

"He has no fuckin' idea," she said to V.

"So, still doubt my intentions?" he asked.

"I… guess not. Thank you, for this. I won't forget it."

River shrugged. "Don't mention it. Good luck." And just like that, he vanished into the crowd once more.

So Mi wasted no time in slotting in the datashard and scouring through the schematics. She knew exactly what she was looking for- it was hard to miss- she just needed to find it and trace a path back to the surface. Sure enough, the Cynosure facility stuck out like a sore thumb amidst the rest of Pacifica's underground infrastructure. On the other hand, there seemed to only be one way in: an old sewer maintenance tunnel. She and V exchanged a dubious look with each other when they arrived at the entrance. Neither of them wanted to go down there, but both of them knew that they had to. Trudging through the water, So Mi felt a deep feeling of unease gnawing at her insides. She didn't want to admit it, but she was terrified- not of Cynosure, but of what it represented. After twisting and turning through maintenance tunnels and stairwells, So Mi found herself at the top of an old cistern with a broken bridge in front of her.

V appeared at the edge, staring down at the water below. "Long drop, that," she observed. Gotta say, I don't like the look that darkness is giving me."

So Mi let out a heavy sigh as she stood beside V. Her heart was pounding now. "Maybe, but it's the only way in. It's the only way into Cynosure."

"Y'know, you still haven't told me what this place even is. How's it supposed to help us?"

"Cynosure was MiliTech's answer to Soulkiller," So Mi explained. "Meant to pull rogue AIs from beyond the Blackwall- turn them into weapons for the NUSA."

"Christ…" V murmured. "And I thought things couldn't get any more fucked."

"There's… something else, too," So Mi said hesitantly. "Remember how I said I didn't want to come back here? I… I think you ought to know why."

V's expression softened. "So Mi, you don't have to-"

"No, I do," she cut her off. "This place… Kurt brought me here after he took me prisoner- from an entrance in Dogtown," she explained. "And… it was here that I learned about the truth of the neural matrix- that it could only be used once." This was the place where the seed of her betrayal had been planted- the site of her greatest regret.

So Mi braced herself- expecting V to be mad at her. In her eyes, she had every right to for reminding the construct of such a painful memory. Instead, though, she found herself greeted by the sensation that came when she and V "touched" each other. She opened her eyes to see V had thrown her arms around So Mi, holding her close.

"I told you already, So Mi, it's not something you have to worry about- not ever again," V assured her. "I promise you, it's water under the bridge. We've just gotta keep moving forward 'till it's so far back we can't even see it. Speaking of which," she paused, looking back down toward the bottom of the cistern. "Now that we know how to get to Cynosure, there's only one piece of this plan left to get before we set it in motion: the Relic, so let's step to it."